29 November, 2008

Up in a meadow in Jasper AlbertaTwo men and four ponies on a long lonesome rideTo see the high country and learn of her peopleThe ways that they lived there the ways that they died

And one is a teacher one a beginnerJust wanting to be there and wanting to knowAnd together they're trying to tell us a storyThat should have been listened to long long ago

Now the life in the mountains is living in dangerFrom too many people too many machinesAnd the time is upon us today is foreverTomorrow is just one of yesterday's dreams

Cold nights in Canada and icy blue windsThe man and the mountains are brothers againClear waters are laughing they sing to the skyThe Rockies are living they never will die

Up in a meadow in Jasper AlbertaTwo men and four ponies on a long lonesome ride

An hymn for the mountains and their wilderness, but there is also a warning for the dangers by touristic development, construction of accomodations and presence of too much people, pressures that sensitive mountainous ecosystems can't withstand.

Rocky Mountain Suite (cold nights in Canada) is a warning of the danger of the ever-expanding population, urbanisation and industrialisation. It was written for a documentary in which John and Canadian Mounty, Tommy Tompkins went in search of the lost herds of bighorn sheep, “living in danger from too many people, too many machines”. Rocky Mountain relays a similar message by emphasizing the natural qualities of the mountains “more people, more scars upon the land”

26 November, 2008

Twenty years before, three great greek artists joined together to produce this unconventional and under-appreciated album that no matter it passed unnoticed in our country and generally received negative reviews mainly for its pessimistic or brutal and nasty language of its lyrics, it has many ardent followers and is considered a classic work in modern greek rock music. We present two songs from this album:

After the Great Boommillions of lenses making zoomBeautiful views of the destructionFlesh and fire to feed yourselfWhen the spider will feel geniusLiving squeezed in a crack of a concrete roof

You’ve said it will take timefor litters to become a pileand to cover buildings up to roofsto die with slow deathsfor new pyrotechnists to be bornto worth to return to planet earth

The life that I killed by myselfis the life that I’m longing forI am covered with your blanketsI have strained my ears to your bodyYour existence is like a sunken shipYou call me last radio operator

In the morning, when calling a taxiI feel burned in an acidIn the passers-by eyes I sawrazor slashes of yesterday dreamsYour nails are bright red by the manonYou’re the culprit and the victim of conditions

A post-apocalyptic song about a dystopian society after a nuclear or environmental holocaust, about the terrible Now, about the warnings in the Past, and about the continuing indifference, cynism or vanity in a harsh environment (Spectaculation of the disaster, beautification in every day sick atmosphere)

A song that is a sarcasm to our worship of consumerism by making it a fundamental social value and be trapped by becoming addicted to it. A society that is manipulated by a kits mixture of old fashion traditions and modern fake plastic items and values, and by a salad of things, actions and ideas having an ideological content either of high quality and importance or inferior and unimportant.

24 November, 2008

Is it right or wrongTry to find a placeWe can all belong?Be as oneTry to get on byIf we unifyWe should really try...All this timeSpinning round and roundMade the same mistakesThat we've always foundSurely nowWe could move alongMake a better world?No it can't be wrongLet's come togetherRight nowOh yeahIn sweet harmonyTime is running outLet there be no doubtWe should sort things outIf we careLike we say we doNot just empty wordsFor a week or twoMake the worldYour priorityTry to live your lifeEcologicallyPlay a partIn a greater schemeTry to live the dreamOn a wider sceneLet's come togetherRight nowOh yeahIn sweet harmony

[Spoken:]What difference does it makeTo the dead, the orphans, and the homeless,Whether the mad destruction is wroughtUnder the name of totalitarianismOr the holy name of liberty and democracyAnd for that I had to died???

A great song, about peaceful revolution or non-violent ways of social resistance. reminding both lyrically and musically 60-70s song styles about freedom and peace. The song is about Mahatma Gandi and his great non-violent revolution, as has been stated by band members.

Also the whole album deals with the struggle for freedom and social justice through human history, overcoming the fear of death and pain that keeps people enslaved in totalitarian regimes. We translate from Greek a Grave Digger’s interview in rockin.gr:

The songs of this album are based on the concept Liberty or Death. It’s all about Historical themes. The homonymous song is about Greek revolt against Ottomans in Crete-Greece. “Ocean of blood” is about Moses and Jews escape from Egypt. “Highland Tears” is about Scottish revolution against England, “Until the last King died” is about French Revolution, “March of the Innocent” is about Jews Holocaust and concentration camps in WW II, “Terrible one” is about the Ivan the terrible, “Silent Revolution” is about Gandhi, “Shadowland” is about America’s fight against Ku-Klux-Klan, “Forecourt to Hell” is about Gladiators and “Massada” is a rock near Israel where a mass suicide took place in ancient times by Zealots rebels in order not to be captured by Roman troops

Back to comment on the presented song: A mass uprising is much more effective and influential if it is spread with nonviolent means, like that of Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King, etc. Every violent revolution in history, when prevailed, has also enstablished repressive status quo or regimes. No one Military National or Social Libertarian Army or Front, or whatever else was called, has ever liberated people! The new boss is same as the old boss! When you break a tree branch in order to make a club for fight you don’t expect it to shoot green again.

Standing on a lonely shore, beauty does unfoldKissed by the dawning light, the sea is painted goldNever seen alike before, innocent and pureWe never see, we just destroy, we run this planet down

Living to destroyLooking with closed eyesGetting sad - as I understandI see a dolphin cry

Have you heard, birds greet the day, so full of joy they singRemember the smell of forests, the innocence of springBut we forget and close our eyes, beauty fades awayThe big machine must run forever, forget the price we pay.

Everybody makes profit, businesses going wellWe buy, we grab, we hold with greed, but how much do we sellRich but poor we celebrate, lost the best we've hadI realize but can not change it, getting cold and sad

Pictures of nature in great contrast with human actions of greed, profit and ignorance of what they do to her

Warchild

I'm fighting, I'm killing, just like a manSanding, defending, a gun in my handLook in my eyes, can't you see they're so coldI'm a fighter, I'ma warrior, I'm twelve years oldLook like a kid, but I learned how to stealPlay children's games, but my killing is realOnce was a kid, just normal as you wereThen soldiers came, killed and they burnedI lost my home, but I found a gunI take their livees, just like they have doneYou took my dad, you killed, you stole my youth andTook my mum. You raped. I take your lives now

I'm a little warchildI kill with an evil smileI'm a little warchildI shoot and death you dial

I 'm fighting. I'm killing, just like a manStanding, defending, a gun in my handOnce was a kid, just normal as you wereThen Soldiers came, killed and they burnedI lost my home, but found a gunI take their lives, just like they have done

The tragic fate of children in third world war zones. Never have a happy childhood, once they lost their famillies or they were abducted, they are forced to serve adult interests, by brainwashing their souls using them as premature soldiers full of hatred who are commanded to kill without knowing what they do. We read in wikipedia:

Throughout history and in many cultures, children have been extensively involved in military campaigns even when such practices were supposedly against cultural morals....According to the website of Human Rights Watch as of July 2007:In over twenty countries around the world, children are direct participants in war. Denied a childhood and often subjected to horrific violence, an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 children are serving as soldiers for both rebel groups and government forces in current armed conflicts

19 November, 2008

Gazing through the window at the world outsideWondering if mother earth will surviveHoping that mankind will stop abusing her, sometime

After all theres just the two of usAnd here we are still fighting for our livesWatching all of history repeat itself, time after time

Im just a dreamer, I dream my life awayIm just a dreamer, who dreams of better days

I watch the sun go down like everyone of usIm hoping that the dawn will bring a signA better place for those who will come after us this time

Im just a dreamer, I dream my life away, oh yeahIm just a dreamer, who dreams of better days

Your higher power may be God or jesus christIt doesnt really matter much to meWithout each others help there aint no hope for usIm living in a dream, a fantasyOh yeah, yeah, yeah

If only we could just find serenityIt would be nice if we could live as oneWhen will all this anger, hate and bigotry be gone?

Im just a dreamer, I dream my life away, todayIm just a dreamer, who dreams of better days, okIm just a dreamer, whos searching for the way, todayIm just a dreamer, dreaming my life awayOh yeah, yeah, yeah

A mourning song full of visions and wishes for saving Mother Earth and Humanity from ecological destruction, wars, etc. But such wishes are costless, so do his crocodile tears. If he really wants to do something for the planet he shouldn't have supported George Bush or Margaret Thatcher in 80s.

17 November, 2008

How many times must I lead you to water,how many times must I catch you from graceand how many times must the lamb go to slaughter,it seems that things will never change.

How many times can you trust your conviction,how many times can you feel your own painand how many days of your life are prediction,it seems that things will never change.

How many times can we develop something we've just doneand how many times can we re-run the race that we've just won.

Well, we're always looking, for something new,but what difference does it make, when there's no point of view,'cos when you can't even take care of the past,how do you expect the future to last?

Well, there's people in pain, all over the world,and if something doesn't change, between man and his world,say goodbye to all the birds and the bees,deforestation and the death of the trees,immunization, as we fall to our knees,I'm begging you, please! I'm begging you, please!

How many times can we live without loving,how many times can we choose our own fateand how many times can we clip the white dove's wing,it seems that things will never change.

How many times can we sin without savior,and how many times can we cloud our own truthand how many times must we judge our own failure,it seems that things will never change.

How many times can we develop something we've just doneand how many times can we re-run the race that we've just won.

Well, we're always looking, for something new,but what difference does it make, when there's no point of view,'cos when you can't even take care of the past,how do you expect the future to last?

Well, there's people in pain, all over the world,and if something doesn't change, between man and his world,say goodbye to all the birds and the bees,deforestation and the death of the trees,immunization, as we fall to our knees,I'm begging you, please! I'm begging you, please!

How many times can we develop something we've just doneand how many times can we re-run the race that we've just won...

A song that wonders how long human will do the same old mistakes, always destructive for himself and environment.

12 November, 2008

Strong instinct for survivalRomantically insaneMoving soft along the edge of timeLike a panther in the rain

Manipulated rebelsWith a total disregard for the rulesWhen pride comes tumbling off the great white stallionYou move closer to the truth

And the search continues for the meaningThey build the cathedrals highBut we keep our weapons readyLooming dark against the sky

They're taking down the rain forestChanging it to a room without a viewAnd the big trees fall like dominoesAnd we move closer The eagle watches from the mountainAs the warriors turn into foolsAnd the dice are thrown on sacred groundAnd they move closer to the truth

And who's gonna tell the childrenHow the rivers used to flow crystal blueAnd we keep leaving scars on Mother EarthAnd moving closer to the truth

A psychological and philosophical portrait of human beings and their relation and behaviour towards nature. The more they devastate nature the closer they move to the “inconvenient” truth of their declination and extinction.

A call to respect Mother Earth for her beauty, her offerings and for future generations survival and welfare

Neil Young is an outspoken advocate for environmental issues and small farmers, having co-founded in 1985 the benefit concert Farm Aid. We read in wikipedia about his environmental activities and against global poverty:

Farm Aid was organized by Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Neil Young, spurred on by Bob Dylan's comments at Live Aid earlier in that year. (Dylan said, "I hope that some of the money...maybe they can just take a little bit of it, maybe...one or two million, maybe...and use it, say, to pay the mortgages on some of the farms and, the farmers here, owe to the banks....") Nelson and Mellencamp then brought family farmers before Congress to testify about the state of family farming in America. Congress subsequently passed the Agricultural Credit Act of 1987 to help save family farms from foreclosure.

Today, Farm Aid is an organization that works to increase awareness of the importance of family farms, and puts on an annual concert of country, blues and rock music with a variety of stars. Young's speeches about the environment are a highlight of the annual shows.

10 November, 2008

When she's on her best behaviourDon't be tempted by her favourNever turn your back on mother earth

Towns are hurled from a to bBy hands that looked so smooth to meNever turn your back on mother earth

Grasp at straws that don't want graspingGaze at clouds that come down crashingNever turn your back on mother earth

Three days and two nights away from my friendsAmen to anything that brings a quick returnTo my friendsTo my friends

Never turn your back on mother earthI'll admit I was unfaithfulBut from now on I'll be more faithfulNever turn your back on mother earthNever turn your back on mother earth

This song, that has been covered many times since its first release by many artists, is a warning to respect Mother Earth and not to become greedy and exploitative towards her because of her generosity.

08 November, 2008

Three thats the magic numberyes it is, its a magic numberTwo times three is sixand three times six is eighteenand the eighteenth letter in the alphabet is RThere's three Rs we're going to be talking about today

An educative song for children about the necessity of three Rs (Reduce-Reuse-Rescycle) in our society for environmental protection and sustainable development. We add two more Rs (Restore-Rethink) to complete the R-circle. The whole album is the sountrack of the children's cartoon animated film Curious George

JJ played this song at the 1st Kokua Festival and it was cute and catchy. He originally played it for kids at school assemblies. The profits from the 1st festival went to start recycling programs at Oahu schools. I wish I was goin to da 2nd Kokua Festival but all sold out.Somethin interesting: 1% of the profits from his CD, In b/w Dreams, are going to enviro organizations.

The album is a collection of songs written and performed by John Denver.Denver performed at the Earth Day celebrations on April 22nd 1990 in Washington. He sang a selection of ecology-themed tunes, which he later recorded for the album Earth Songs. The proceeds from sales went to the National Wildlife Federation. The tracks chosen for the album reflect John Denver’s interest in nature.

John once said of his music, “My purpose in performing is to communicate the joy I experience in living”. His popularity soared and John began to express own feelings more through his songs. He was one of the first artists to share environmental message through his music. In a 1995 interview, Denver stated. "When I write a song, I want to take the personal experience or observation that inspired it and express it in as universal a way as possible. I'm a global citizen. I've created that for myself, and I don't want to step away from it. I want to work in whatever I do…towards a world in balance, a world that creates a better quality of life for all people."

In the same site you can read about the rest of the songs that are included and we have already presented or we are going to present later.

The second song written exactly after Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska)talks about lust for greed and power which is the source of any evil and disaster (drugs, war, environmental disaster, dictatorship, etc) and the only solution is to awake and fight for the right and bring down not only the walls that separate us, but also the images of those who considered the kings of our times.

04 November, 2008

nice placeclean waterfresh airblue skieslike pirateswe tried itwe took what we deservedhalf millionyears laterwe'd used upour reserveswe're crying'what happened?'we get what we deservewe get what we deservewe get instead the isle of manthe isle of man

i've wanderedthrough forestswith our garbagewaist-highcan't clean iti mean itwe get what we deserverainy morningsdry eveningsit's growingon my nervesjust gasesyou fascistsyou get what you deserveyou get what you deserveyou get instead the isle of manthe isle of man

Human race is depicted as pirates who inhabited a beautiful island and, they have exhausted all natural sources, getting “what they deserved” in the end. A survivor writes a chronicle for future “cave” generations, as civilization has declined sunk in wastes…

03 November, 2008

Plutonium is a business,The business people say. A cupful of Plutonium Could sweep the world away.But atom plants are businessWith Plutonium on the side, And business will keep goingAlthough all the world has died.

Chorus:Make way for business,They go where they will go.If business wants Plutonium, Who's going to say them no.

The AEC announcesA Pluto-economy, Plutonium on railroad carsAnd on the ships at sea.Railroad cars they jump the tracks And freighters they collide, And business will keep going Although all the world has died.

There never was PlutoniumSince all the world began,But now it's a by-product Of the cleverness of Man. Half-life twenty thousand yearsAnd there's no place to hide,And business will keep going Although all the world has died.

A whiff of that PlutoniumNo city can survive,But P.R. men can make it smellLike Chanel Number Five.I sing this song to warn us allWhile we still move around,Cause business goes the way it goesUnless we cut them down.

Somebody's got to stop them,Children, that's me and you. And if some of us go down fighting,If some of us go down fighting,If some of us go down fighting,That's a cleaner way to go.

A song about the consequences of leaving our fates to greedy for power and profits politicians and corporations. They don't hesitate to deal with the most toxic and dangerous elements in the world, like Plutonium in nuclaear plants.

about us

We live in Thessaloniki, Greece and we are members of the ecological movement of the city, critical supporters of the European Greens and of course rock music fans. We created this blog with the ambition to collect as many lyrics of rock music songs that refer to ecology and environment as possible. We also put link for direct listening when this is possible.We prefer to add our comments to each song (about their history, their content, their connection to related ecological movements or ecological thought currents and so on) but we also cite widely accepted comments from places like wikipedia or allmusic, to support our views.
We would apreciate (in fact we encourage!) any visitor who has something more to say, or to add forgotten or not so popular lyrics, or to report broken ling for direct listening of a song. We also welcome comments on the proposed connections of the lyrics with the various aspects of ecological thought. We've made a start with the decade of 60s and we try to cover any decade of rock history.